


Wait For Me to Come Home

by UnredeemedSoul



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Ed Sheeran - Freeform, F/M, Listen to Photograph by Ed Sheeran while reading, Romance, Sam x Celaena, photograph
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 20:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8768692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnredeemedSoul/pseuds/UnredeemedSoul
Summary: Sometimes, photographs are all that we have left of the ones we love. Reminders of a different time, a different place, and a different life.[Sam/Celaena One-Shot](Angst, romance)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking this out!
> 
> I highly recommend that you listen to Ed Sheeran's "Photograph" while reading, as I've been told that that lends maximum angst to the following one-shot.

**Wait For Me to Come Home**

 

I smile and, as I look into his eyes, the pain in my heart diminishes a little when I see them again.

He’s smiling as we stand in front of a café somewhere in Orynth.

I can remember it still…

* * *

" _Sam!” I laugh as he places his croissant right above his mouth like a mustache and mimes strutting around like my cousin._

_Sam smirks. “Who’s Sam? My name is Aedion, Wolf of the North.” He drawls, raising an eyebrow._

_I don’t say anything. Instead, I slip my phone out of my pocket and snap a picture while he’s striking the most ridiculous pose with the croissant mustache still in place._

_“Celaena!” He yells indignantly, narrowing his dark brown eyes at me. I laugh again as he tries futilely to grab my phone._

_“You can’t do those ridiculous poses without expecting me to take a picture!” I chastise, trying to keep the phone out of the taller assassin’s reach. He flails for it, a big smile on his face, his usual calm demeanor completely absent._

_Passersby stare at us curiously, but I couldn’t care less._

_Finally, Sam gives up and pouts in a really adorable way, taking a bite of his croissant._

_“Fine. Be that way.”_  
_  
An even bigger smile blooms on my face as I step close to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his chest. He’s warm; a welcome difference to the freezing winter air._

_A chuckle rumbles from the strong figure I cling to, and then I feel him take the phone out of my hands. I start to protest, but then he flips the camera and, grinning like a lunatic, captures the moment in perfect HD quality._

* * *

Time freezes for me as I lean back into the couch and sigh, glancing over at my mug of untouched tea.

I flip the page of the book in my lap, another picture staring me in the face. Another snapshot of my life with Sam, this one from another time.

The day we moved in together.  

* * *

_“I swear to god, Sam, that better not be what I think it is.”_

_Innocent brown eyes peer at me from over the top of a box. “What?”_

_“That!” I exclaim, outstretched finger pointing at the moving abomination on the countertop._

_His eyes shift over to it. “What, that? That’s…”_

_I glare at him, and he sets the box down._

_A huge smile lights up his face. “That’s our new pet cat!”_

_“...”_

* * *

I trace his face in the photo. So happy… So carefree.

A manic gleam in his eyes that said he didn’t care what the world threw at him- he would come out on top with a smile on his face.

* * *

" _Where did you even get that.”_

_Sam’s face scrunches up in faux thoughtfulness._

_“Um… Lysandra?”_

_I glare at him, and he laughs._

_“Chill out, Celaena.” He says, picking up the meowing demon-spawn and casually throwing it out the window._

_As if on cue, Fleetfoot bounds out of the box Sam had just set down, barking happily._

_He looks up at me and smiles. “See? It was just a joke!”_

_Sam’s eyes glance at something over my shoulder, a devilish grin on his face._

_I turn to see Aedion attempting to hide himself behind a small potted plant, a hand over his mouth stifling his laughter._

_Slowly, I turn back around to face Sam._

_His eyes widen as he realizes what’s about to happen._

* * *

It’s getting harder for me to turn the page- to keep going through the photos, the _memories_ , of my time with Sam.

Another page.

We’re in bed, his arm around me as I stare sleepily at the camera.

Ah. This one…

* * *

_I feel the body next to me shift slightly, and I try to snuggle closer to it. To the warm, comfortable heat. Sam chuckles and wraps a strong arm around me, pulling me closer to him._

_He sits up, and my head follows, landing in his lap. I groan._

_Another low chuckle, and then I feel him reach for something across from me._

_I am falling back under the dark blanket of sleep when I feel Sam poke me in the ribs._

_“Psst. Celaena.”_

_I lazily pull the blanket over my head._

_He pulls it away. “Celaaaaeeenaa!”_

_Another poke._

_“Go away, Sam…” I mumble sleepily, glaring up at him._

_He smirks. “Say cheese!”_  
_  
“Wha-”_

* * *

Frozen. Frozen in time.

That is what those moments depicted here are.

Moments that have been captured, frozen. Kept for later viewing.

For me. _Now._

I see a small splotch on the page and move my finger over to it.

Wet…

Another splotch stains the paper.

I bring my hand up to my face.

Tears.

I’m crying.

The book in my hand starts shaking and I squeeze my eyes shut.

I thought I could do it.

I can’t. I’m not strong. Not strong like Sam is…

_Was._

But… I know that no matter how painful this feels, no matter how many sorrowful tears fall from my exhausted person, that it is also exactly what I need. The small feeling that a part of him is still with me. Is still watching over me. The small jolt of happiness and that fleeting moment of ease in my heart when I see his laughing, smiling face.

* * *

_Orange streaks the sky, mixing with pink and red in a myriad of beautiful colors. Only half of the sun can be seen as it slowly sinks below the horizon. The wispy clouds float lazily above a crystal sea which reflects the lights of the sky._

_But nothing is more beautiful than the figure sitting before me, legs dangling precariously off the edge of the cliff, a small smile on his face._

_Dark brown eyes turn towards me and I feel my heart flutter a little, my hands clutching the stem of my wineglass a little bit harder as I bite my lip._

_He cocks his head, the smile dissipating by a small fraction._

_“Would you like some more wine?”_

_I shake my head, setting the glass down. I am afraid that it will fall from my grip and roll over the edge to shatter on the rocks below._

_Sam looks a little confused as I shift closer to him._

_No. Not confused._

_Nervous._

_I slowly reach a hand towards his face, cupping his cheek in my palm. He leans into it a little bit, a small smile on his lips._

_I mirror the smile as I shift even closer, tilting my face up to meet his…_

* * *

The sunset was captured perfectly, although the edge of one of Sam’s fingers was visible on the corner of the photograph.

A weak smile lifts the corner of my lips, and I let out a strangled noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

Oh, how he’d complained about that small imperfection on the otherwise perfect photograph.

I clench my eyes shut, fingers tightening their death grip on the photo album.

So many memories. So many moments, captured and frozen in time.

I turn the page.

Me, laughing without a care in the world on a Dorian’s birthday.

The two of us in Wendlyn, posing in front of a fountain.

Another date -- this time at a carnival, Sam triumphantly hefting a large stuffed prize.

Sam and I are standing before the palace of Orynth, sunlight glinting off our weapons.

A selfie of us in finery from a ball in Adarlan.

A shot of Sam animatedly telling a story before a campfire.

My vision blurred. More splotches on the paper.

I start turning the pages faster and faster, until there is only one left.

My sight clears to see it, and I nearly drop the book.

Sam standing in this exact room, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.

Exactly one year ago today.

The last time I’d seen him.

A muffled _thump_ as the book slips out of my grasp that I barely register.

I grab the pillow sitting next to me and bury my face into it, inhaling the scent.

Somehow, it still smells of him. A clean, soapy scent, tinged with lavender.

My body shakes as I let loose the tears I’ve been trying so hard to hold back.

I miss him.

_I miss him._

There isn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t give to see his face in person one last time. To touch him, to hear his voice, to feel his lips on mine.

One last time.

I lift my face away from the pillow, the white fabric covering on it damp with my tears. I raise my eyes to the open closet across from me, gaze landing on the discarded daggers piled on the floor.

A memory rose to my mind -- I can see it vividly, hear and feel every detail with perfect clarity.

A mental photograph.

* * *

" _Relax, Celaena. It’s only for a day.” Sam reassured me for what was probably the sixtieth time that morning as he reached for his daggers._

_“But… I’ll miss you…” I mumbled, cheeks reddening. I automatically cast my eyes about the room to check that we were alone and then turned my gaze to the floor._

_His stern expression softened and he walked over to me, his boots making muted thumping noises on the wooden floor. They seemed to echo throughout the otherwise empty room._

_I felt a warm hand cup my face and I nuzzled into it, closing my eyes. Sam tilted my face upwards._

_“Open your eyes, Celaena.”_

_Slowly, I cracked open my eyelids to see Sam staring into my eyes with a burning intensity. His chocolate orbs seemed endless, and I felt like I could get lost in those different shades of brown  forever._

_“It’s just a small job. I’ll only be gone for a day.” He repeated, the corners of his lips pulling up momentarily before he leaned in to kiss me. Brief and sweet. Loving and caring._

_Sam pulled away, a hand reaching towards his coat hanging against the wall._

_“Just… Wait for me to come home.”_

* * *

Those were the words that I would remember for a long time to come. Those six words, his last ones to me.

The only promise he’d ever broken.

_“Wait for me to come home.”_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed! If you didn't, well... I'm sorry, but thanks for giving it a try anyways. I'd love to know what you all thought of this story though!


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